There For Him
by Viceroy Elf
Summary: She had always been there for him. She gave him what no one ever had or would; not even himself. She gave him love.


Beyond Admiration

The war was over.

They did it, they won.

The brave Allied Shinobi sent the ten tails back from whence it came and it took Madara and Obito down with it.

And though there would always be threats to face in the ninja world, it was something of a unanimous decision that the few who have fought so hard these last few months deserved this newfound sense of calm in the land. A period, of peace, short though it may be, had fallen across the world.

And for two ninjas, that period would began when one showed up at the other's door early in the morning and gave a cocky grin and a "Come with me!" before pulling her out of her house and on a commute with him through the still deserted streets of Konaha.

Hinata Hyuga, heiress to the Hyuga Clan and semi-professional fainter walked nervously with Konaha's hero, likely to be known worldwide for his heroics in the war, Naruto Uzumaki, hands behind his head and a toothy grin decorating his face.

The man she loved.

Her mind flooded itself with questions such as '_what could he want?', 'Is he upset with me?', 'Oh, this must be about what I said when he was fighting Pain. Oh he must not feel the same way!'_

She held back her tears and began to speak. "N-Naruto. What I said back while you were fighting Pain; it was very inappropriate, and I'm so-"

"Stop, right there." He interrupted her.

She stood, eyes wide and on the brink of tears and Naruto stood in front of her with his hand held in front of her face.

"Don't you dare apologize, Hinata. You haven't done a thing wrong, and I'm not gonna have you thinking that way." The boy spoke while carrying a mock-stern expression, that was soon replaced with a cunning grin as he continued walking, gesturing for her to follow, which she did.

"You know Hinata, I have a lot of respect for you." He began. "I think about how much stronger you've made yourself in the years I've known you, and I think 'I've never had as much pride for anything as I do for her'" Hinata stares in shock, her face practically glowing red. She couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"I feel this way, because when I used to hear you talk about how you wanted to become stronger, I wanted that to. And I wanted you to become stronger, because if there's anyone who deserves to be strong it's you. If there's anyone who deserves to be able to pick themselves up when the world shoves them down, it's definitely Hinata Hyuga. And if there's anyone I would want to stand with, proud and strong, whenever the world turns to chaos, it is without a doubt Hinata Hyuga."

Naruto stops in the middle of a walkway blocked on both sides by large fences.

"I'm sure I don't have to tell you that my childhood was not the happiest time of my life." He said, hiding a tear that streams down his face.

Hinata doesn't need to see his face to sense the sadness in what he is about to say, and comes near him.

"I don't mean to whine, but I've had to do a lot to get respect from people around here. It wasn't easy; it was painful, and sad and… lonely."

Hinata placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder, and pressed her forehead against his back, bringing more comfort to him than he thought it would.

"And now I'm a hero, who's respected, and admired by lots of people, hundreds maybe. …But part of me still feels alone."

A brief silence fell before Naruto spoke again. "Until I heard your words."

Hinata blushed at the memory of the incident, but stayed quiet.

"No one. Not one person had once said to me the words you had said back there. And even if they had, I don't think there's a person alive on this earth that could have put more meaning into those words than you." More tears began streaming down Naruto's face.

"And I was happy. Because I knew why you looked at me all the time. It was because you saw me in a way I didn't even see myself. While everyone had treated me like I was worthless until I thought the same thing, you looked at me and saw a person. You saw me and not the thing inside of me. I trained so hard to gain respect from others; respect from myself, when I didn't even know that I always had your respect."

Naruto turned to Hinata with sudden rage and anger in his eyes. He grabbed Hinata's shoulders, and though she was scared, she knew that he needed her. She stiffened slightly in his grip, but soon the tension left her body, and she brought him into a tight embrace.

"When… When I saw that bastard bring you to the ground like that, I thought about how all you'd done to make yourself stronger; all you'd done to help me and anyone you could! I thought about how he'd taken that from you… and how he'd taken you from me. I thought the one person on the planet who treated me like a human being, and the person who deserved to live more than anyone. And I lost it. I was ready to let the Nine-Tails out of me and let it tear the world to pieces! …There was no point anymore." Tears flowed freely from his eyes, and he began to shout his words.

Naruto held Hinata as if he would never let her go. "I don't have a lot of experience with the subject of love. But I know that I can't be happy, unless I know you're alive and well. And, I know if I were to stand by anyone while the world ended, I would want it to be you."

Hinata let Naruto's words swim in her head for a few short moments, before looking at him.

As white stared into blue, Hinata could only think of one thing to do at this moment.

As the sun rose over the Horizon, their lips met in a passionate kiss.


End file.
